Bulgaria’s territory has been populated since prehistoric times. Some findings in caves prove an intense life during the Neolithic Age across Bulgaria. The actual territory of Bulgaria was the centre of Thracian civilization which flourished throughout the Balkan Peninsula some six to four centuries B.C. In the 4th century B.C. the Thracian territory joined the Empire of Macedon ruled in those times by Philip II of Macedon and later on, by his son, Alexander the Great. In the 1rst century BC the Romans began the conquest of the Balkan Peninsula and their successors, the Byzantines, dominated the Bulgarian land till the 7th century AD.

The Bulgarian state was founded at the end of the 7th century, in 681, uniting the Slavic tribes, which came from the north-eastern part of Europe, and the Proto-Bulgarians, a tribe of Turkic origin, which spread out from the Proto-Bulgarian Empire located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, along the Volga River. By the mid-9th A.D., Bulgaria became one of the three most powerful states in Europe, together with Byzantium and the Frankish Empire under the rule of Charlemagne. In 855, Salonika-born brothers SS Cyril and Methodius developed the Slavic alphabet, named Cyrillic by their pupils. The two scholars modified some of the Greek letters and created new symbols to adapt the scripture to the Slavic language. They spent their lifetime to spread Christianity and translated Christian texts for Slavs. The Cyrillic alphabet is used in Bulgaria, Russia, Serbia and other neighbouring countries. (A curious fact is that nowadays Cyrillic letters are also used in Mongolia, as it became the country's official alphabet during Soviet domination.)

		The second Bulgarian Empire surged in 1185, after two centuries of Byzantine domination. The Kingdom quickly recovered its power and, in 1204, the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan destroyed the troops of the Fourth Crusade. Few years later, under the rule of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Assen II, Bulgaria achieved its maximum expansion across the Balkan Peninsula. It had access to three seas, namely, the Black Sea, on the east, the Aegean, on the south, and the Adriatic Sea, on the west. The culture and arts gained momentum between the 12th and the 14th centuries. Many precious works of literature, architecture and art were created during this period, including works of worldwide importance, such as the Boyana Church, Zemen Monastery and the Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander, currently housed in the British Library.

Despite heroic resistance, Bulgaria fell under Ottoman domination at the end of the 14th century. As a result, the Bulgarian state ceased to exist for about five centuries. Several uprisings took place from the 14th to the 19th centuries as an outcome of Bulgarian wrath against Ottoman oppression. The normal life and development in Bulgaria have been brought to an end. Large part of the local aristocrats was killed, the Independent Bulgarian Church was finished and a cruel forced islamisation followed, mainly in the southern Rhodopes region of the country.

In 1762, a Bulgarian author, Paisiy Hilendarski, wrote the first work of historiography called Slavonic-Bulgarian History, thus marking the beginning of the Bulgarian National Revival. Economic growth throughout the country characterises this period. Handicrafts centres, such as Gabrovo, Melnik and Koprivshtitsa, developed quickly mainly in the mountainous regions. Bulgarians developed trade and strengthened relations with neighbouring countries, Russia and Egypt. In the beginning of the 19th century the aspiration for en-mass education increased and the Bulgarian church became independent in 1870. All this happened amidst Russian-Turkish wars between the 18th and 19th centuries, which accelerated the establishment and the development of the national-liberation movement. Its outcome was the April Uprising in 1876, which actually opened the way the Bulgaria's liberation, after the end of the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-1878.

Upon the revision of the Piece Treaty signed in the village of San Stefano, at few kilometres away from Istanbul, on March 3, 1878, Bulgaria was divided in two parts: the Principality of Bulgaria (the northern part of Bulgaria and Sofia region), which was independent from the Ottoman Empire, and Eastern Roumelia (southern Bulgaria), which was declared an autonomous zone of the Ottoman Empire. The remainder liberated lands, such as Macedonia, were given back to the Turks. Nevertheless, in September 1885, the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia got united and in 1908, Bulgaria was officially declared independent.

Bulgaria took part in the World War 2 without military intervention biasing Germany. This was the motive for the Soviet troops to enter Bulgaria in September 1944 and establish a dictatorship of the Bulgarian communist party. In 1946, the monarchy was replaced by a republic, and almost all the land, the industrial, the commercial and the banking sectors were nationalised.

On November 10, 1989, Bulgaria began its transition to democracy, like all the other former socialist countries from Eastern Europe. Bulgaria had to change in depth its political, economical and social structures. After having passed the largest part of this difficult road, Bulgaria joined the European Union on January 1, 2007.